Means to support a channel-shaped head rail of a venetian blind



INVENTORS. S. J ambson BY 7 Shapiro 5. JACOBSON ET AL MEANS TO SUPPORT A CHANNEL-SHAPED HEAD RAIL OF A VENETIAN BLIND Filed 001;. 6, 1954 NEANS TO SUPPORT A CHANNEL-SHAPED HEAD RAIL OF A VENET IAN BLIND Samuel Jacobson and Stanley Shapiro, Bronx, N. Y.

Application October 6, 1954, Serial No. 460,749

Claims. (Cl. 160-181) This invention relates to Venetian blinds and particularly to means to support Venetian blinds having a channel-shaped head rail between the side members of a window frame.

It is an object of the invention to eliminate the use of screws or similar securing members for supporting the blind between the side members of a window frame and thereby prevent mutilation of said members especially when they are constructed of metal.

It is another object of the invention to provide easy adjustment whereby the head rail of the Venetian blind may be adjusted to any desired distance from the top of the window frame to provide a space for ventilation at the top of the window without the blind interfering with the flow of air through said space.

It is a further object of the invention to reduce the amount of time required to mount Venetian blinds.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description of the invention.

The drawing accompanying and forming a part of this application consists of:

Figure 1 showing a top plan view of a channel-shaped head rail of a Venetian blind showing the invention embodied therein;

Figure 2 showing a side elevational view of the Venetian blind;

Figure 3 showing an elevational end view, on an enlarged scale, of the Venetian blind and the supporting means with a portion of said supporting means brokenaway to show the structure of the supporting means;

Figure 4 showing a side elevational view of an end portion of the head rail and supporting means taken on the line 44 of Figure 3 looking in the direction of the arrows to show an adjusting member of the supporting means;

Figure 5 showing another side sectional view of an end portion of the head rail and supporting means taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3 looking in the direction of the arrows to show the manner of securing the supporting means to the head rail of the Venetian blind;

Figure 6 showing a sectional plan view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 3 looking in the direction of the arrows to show the manner of securing the adjusting member to the supporting means; and

Figure 7 showing a perspective view of a member for removably securing the head rail on the supporting means.

The embodiment of the invention is adapted to be used for supporting a Venetian blind shown in Figures 1 and 2 as comprising a channel-shaped head rail 8 of sheet metal having hollow beaded edges 9 on the side walls of the channel. The bottom wall of the channel supports a pair of ladder tapes 10 extended through openings 11 in said bottom wall and said tapes supporting slats 12. The slats are raised and lowered by cords 13 passing through locking mechanism 14 on the bottom wall of the channel of the head rail. The slats are tilted by mech- Fat-exited Apr. 2, 1957 anism indicated at 15 in Figure l and actuated by a cord 16.

The embodiment of the invention consists of supporting means comprising a pair of corresponding cap members, each cap member including an end wall 17, two side walls 18 extending in parallel spaced relation to each other and at right angles to the end wall, and a third side wall 19 spanning the space between the side walls 18 and extending at right angles to the end wall 17 and the parallel side walls 18. The side walls 18 are spaced from each other to form a sliding fit with the side walls of the channel of the head rail 8 with the end wall 17 closing the end of the channel and the third side wall 19 spanning the space between the side walls of the channel of the head rail.

The cap members 17-19 are connected to each other and adjusted toward and away from each other by a pair of rods 20. Each rod 20 is secured at one end to the end wall 17 of a cap member by a plate 21 secured to the end wall 17 adjacent to the third side wall 19 by suitable means, such as rivets 22. Said end of the rod is reduced and engaged in a corresponding opening in the plate 21, as at 23 in Figure 4. The reduced end is retained in the corresponding opening by suitable means, such as solder shown at 24 in Figures 4 and 6. The opposite ends of the rods 20 are screw-threaded, as shown at 25 in Figure 1, to adjustably engage a turnbuckle 26 having holes 27 to facilitate turning of the turnbuckle. The screw-threads on one rod extend in the opposite direction of the screw-threads on the other rod, as shown in Figure l. The turnbuckle is retained in adjusted position by a lock-nut 28 engaged on the screw-threads of one of the rods, as shown in Figure 1.

Each cap member is retained on the opposite end portions of the head rail 8 by a plate 29 having a vertical flange 30 at each end arranged with an inwardly projecting tongue 31 stamped from the material of the flange. The plate 29 is abutted against the exterior of the bottom wall of the head rail 8 with the flanges 30 engaging the exterior of the parallel side walls 18 and each tongue 31 extending into an opening 32 in each side wall 18 adjacent the bottom wall of the channel of the head rail, as shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5.

In the operation of the device, the supporting means is first mounted in the window frame by turning the turnbuckle 26 in one direction to move the cap members 17-19 toward each other a distance Smaller than the space between the side members of the window frame to permit positioning the supporting means in the window frame, and then the turnbuckle 26 is rotated in the opposite direction to move the cap members from each other to abut the side members of the window frame and clamp the supporting means in the window frame. The cap members may be tightened against the side members of the window frame by turning the turnbuckle by a suitable tool, not shown, inserted in one of the holes 27. After the cap members are tightened against the side members of the window frame, the opposite end portions of the head rail 8 are engaged in the cap members and the plates 29 are secured on the cap members to retain the head rail in the cap members.

If it is desired to adjust the position of the Venetian blind relative to the top of the window frame, the plates 29 and head rail 8 are removed from the cap members 17-19 and the supporting means are adjusted to the desired position in the window frame and the Venetian blind is remounted in the cap members of the supporting means.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. Means to support a channel-shaped head rail of a Venetian blind comprising a pair of cap members, each cap member removably mounted on an enclosing an end portion of the channel-shaped head rail, a rod secured at one end to each cap member and the opposite end of each rod arranged with screw-threads, the screw-threads on one rod extending in one direction and the screwthreads on the other rod extending in the opposite direction, and a turnbuckle mounted on the screw-threaded ends of the rods whereby the turning of the turnbuckle in one direction moving the cap members away from each other into engagement with opposite side members of a window frame to support the head rail between said side members and the turning of the turnbuckle in the opposite direction moving the cap members toward each other and releasing the supporting means from said side members.

2. Means to support a channel-shaped head rail of a Venetian blind as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rods are secured to the cap members adjacent one side of said cap members whereby the rods will extend longitudinally of the head rail adjacent to the open side of the channel of said head rail.

3. Means to support a channel-shaped head rail of a Venetian blind as claimed in claim 1, wherein each rod is secured to a cap member by a plate attached to the cap member and the-end of the rod is secured to the plate.

4. Means to support a channel-shaped head rail of a Venetian blind as claimed in claim 1, wherein each cap member comprises an end wall and three adjoining side walls extending at right angles to each other and the end wall with two of the side walls in parallel spaced relation to each other and the third side wall spanning the space between the two parallel side walls, the cap member being mounted on the end portion of the channel-shaped head rail with the end wall closing the open end of the channel of the head rail and the third side wall of the cap member spanning the open side of the channel of the head rail, and a plate having flanges at the opposite ends to frictionally engage the two parallel side walls of the cap member with the plate abutting the bottom wall of the channel of the head rail and securing the cap member on the head rail.

5. Means to support a channel-shaped head rail of a Venetian blind as claimed in claim 4, wherein the two parallel side walls of each cap member are arranged with openings adjacent to the bottom of the parallel side walls, and each flange of the plate is provided with an inwardly projecting tongue to engage in each of said openings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

